On October 16th, over Three Hundred Chimney Swift birds were found dead in front of the Nascar Hall of Fame. For those of you who have never seen this building (I didn't even know it existed until I read about this horrific event) It is a rather low, ovular building that is almost completly covered in windows.

Unfortunatley, Birds' eyes are not nearly as complex as ours, and they are unable to see glass. It is also currently migrating season, meaning hundreds of birds are flying south for the winter and having to roost for the night in places they may be unfamiliar with. Due to the building's unusual, nest-like shape and the bright lights shining from within it, the large flock of migrating Chimney Swifts may have been drawn to the building in order to roost there for the night, only to slam full force into what would appear to them as a glass forcefield and gain injuries ranging from a mild concussion to internal decapitation.

Due to the building's large amount of windows, it would not be out of the ordinary for a mass avian massacre like this one to happen again. However, preventing it is an easy and affordable fix. There are three possible ways that the Nascar Hall of Fame's windows can be bird-proofed. One way is with bird scare tape. This extremely affordable product (Sold for $8.99 per roll on amazon) is a shiny, reflective/holographic tape that intimidates birds, which will result in them wanting nothing to do with the Nascar Hall of Fame. Another way is to use a bird UV spray. Although birds are unable to see glass, they are able to see UV light.

To us, this spray appears as a tranparent film or tint, but to the birds, the windows will be clearly visible, and they will be able to avoid it as they would be able to avoid a brick wall. This last suggestion is not nearly as affordable as the other two, but would probably work the best in terms of the Nascar Hall of Fame, but another way would be to cover the windows with a giant sticker depicting a racecar, a racecar driver, etc. Not only does it fit the theme of the Nascar Hall of Fame, but it covers up the windows so that birds won't crash into them!

I know you're probably thinking "Why go through all of this? It's just a bunch of birds!" Although birds aren't nearly as complex as a human, let alone a dog (unless it is a Cockatoo or an African Grey) they still share this planet with us. And just because they are unable to communicate with our species does not mean we should not respect them. This is their planet too. In fact, It was their planet before it was ours. Birds descend from Dinosaurs!

And the fact that they aren't as complex as we are gives us more the reason to protect them. They aren't humans, but we are all Earthlings. And we need to help our fellow Earthlings out. We can't let them keep crashing into these windows. We need to protect them like one would protect their child from a bottle of pills. If your child got into a bottle of pills, would you put it back in the same spot? No, you would move them into a safer place. I am a proud bird owner of three very loving birds. About two months ago, one of the sweetest birds I had ever met tragically passed away when she hit a window and internally decapitated herself. I feel like I have lost a baby, and I am still heartbroken beyond belief. When I first saw the article about what had happened to those hundreds of poor birds, I thought of the baby I had lost and knew I had to do something. Please, sign this petition. Not for me, and not just for the birds, but for the Earth. On another note, some of the birds survived and are being treated by a wildlife rehabilitation center in Charlotte. If you would like to donate to this cause, I am putting the link below. 

https://www.facebook.com/donate/2466142920136300/

Thank you for taking the time to read this, 

Sincerely,  A determined lover of Birds and the environment.